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BSNL, MTNL & Russia’s Glonass To Jointly Offer Navigation Services In India
State Run telecom service providers MTNL & BSNL have partnered with Russia’s NIS Glonass to offer Satellite based navigational assistance services in India. Officials in the telecom department have confirmed the same to ToI, “A draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) between NIS Glonass, BSNL and MTNL for provision of satellite navigation services is being considered by the government”.
Why Glonass?
“Global Navigation Satellite System” or Glonass had been reserved for Russian military forces since its inception by Russian conglomerate JSFC Sistema and JSC Russian Space Systems who have 70:30 partnerships. Only after 2007, was civilian use permitted & since then Russia has been keen to deploy it for other nations to enhance inter-country relations.
Running parallel to US’s Global Positioning System (GPS), both the systems run on radio based communication with geo-synchronous satellites orbiting around the earth. Though initially used to offer tactical advantage to paramilitary forces, post the cold war, Russia wants to put them to good use for civil and commercial users worldwide.
Should Google be worried?
Google offers one of the best navigational assistance services on the planet. Synched perfectly with Google Earth, the company can accurately guide users to their destinations backed by actual satellite images & other offerings like ‘Street-View’ just add icing to the cake. To top it, Google’s services are free. There are other companies which specialize in offering similar services but they offer it on a monthly subscription basis & one has to own a dedicated device. Whereas, Google Maps & Navigation works on any Android Phone with an inbuilt GPS chip.
MTNL & BSNL are service providers who have a dedicated data stream, which Google critically lacks. If these Public Sector Units (PSUs) can offer some kind of unlimited data plans to access Glonass, they could enhance adoption of its services. In a world where Value Added Services (VAS) determines the success of a telecom provider, BSNL & MTNL are betting big with this partnership. Will you use it?
Image Courtesy | guardian
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2012-11-23 21:20:09
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